JASON WALKED THROUGH the threshold of the huge house and frowned the minute he heard Machayla call him an asshole and slam the door shut behind her. He still couldn’t figure out how he really felt about her yet. Every time he saw her, he wanted nothing more than to drag her somewhere out of sight so he could have his way with her and get her out of his system.
All of this was nothing but his body telling him that he needed to get laid… well he thought that was the case until he found himself thinking about Machayla this afternoon for no reason at all; even after sleeping with that Christie chick.
She walked ahead of him and he couldn’t help but to stare at her toned legs that seemed to be accentuated and elongated by her high heels. His eyes traveled up and zoned in on her round derriere and he bit down on his bottom lip when the urge to grab her, throw her over his shoulders like a true caveman would and find a secluded area where he could have his fun with her arose.
When she stopped walking, Jason finally snapped out of it and realized that he was amongst all of his new crew mates. He cocked an eyebrow at them as they glared at him. They must’ve caught him staring at her but he wasn’t sure. Even if they did, could they blame him?? He turned to Machayla. “What wrong with the minions?”
“Minions?” She asked him.
“Yeah, Mason’s little lackys. Why are they staring at me with those ugly looks on their faces?”
She seemed like she wanted to laugh but held it in. “Oh. Well you’re a whole hour late. When Mason says five, he means five.” She suddenly had a different expression on her petite face. A look that Jason recognized as… was that fear? “He’s pissed off at you already.” She continued. “ Please don’t make him angrier. I can’t take another b- ”
“You’re late!”
Jason looked up from Machayla with an eerie feeling to find Mason walking into the room with a look that would have had a child running for the hills with tears in his eyes but Jason wasn’t fazed. Not one bit. He looked down at Machayla again. He noticed that she had taken several steps away from him and was looking at everything but him while she nervously played with her fingers.
“Kayla leave.” Mason growled out. Jason frowned at the tone and intensity that he used while speaking to… no, more like commanding Machayla.
‘What the hell?’ Jason thought to himself. His eyes averted between Mason and Machayla and to Jason’s surprise she quickly made her way out of the room without any fuss. He was a bit confused. She did not seem like the type of girl to take orders from a guy so easily.
“If you’re not in this crew follow her.” Mason ordered again. The girls that Jason hardly noticed was there to begin with, rushed out of the room behind Machayla. None of the others seemed to have been taken aback by the way Mason spoke to the girls. It all seemed like it was a natural occurrence.
Jason stood in the middle of the room with a blank expression on his face. He didn’t know what to expect but he was sure that he would be able to handle it without breaking a sweat.
“So, what’s this meeting about? I have somewhere to be.” Jason finally spoke up. He wasn’t lying about having somewhere to be. He and Drake promised their mother that they would stop by for a visit tonight and try to convince her to get out of the house for a bit.
Mason ignored his questioned, walked towards him with a scowl playing on his face and stopped when he stood toe to toe with Jason once again. “I don’t like to be played with. Don’t play with me or you will be regretting it.”
Jason gave Mason an evil smirk. “And if I do” Jason made air quotes “‘play’ with you, what will you do to me? Are you going to bitch slap me like you did Carter, because that’ll be a bit impossible since I ain’t anybody’s bitch.”
“You cocky little motherf-” Carter was about to start his onslaught but Mason cut him off.
“Shut it up Carter! He’s just a little punk kid with a big mouth and a bigger ego because he always expects his big brother to have his back in every shit that he gets into. Ain’t I right Jason?” Mason wore a smug smile on his face.
Jason felt his anger rising but forced himself to keep his cool. What Mason was saying wasn’t true and no matter how bad he wanted to bash Mason’s face in too prove it, he realized that it would be a bad idea to get into it with the crew’s leader.
Instead he took a step back and gave him a dry look. “Mason what’s this meeting about?” He asked once again.
Mason stared hard at Jason for a while before turning on his heels. “Follow me.” He growled out. “All of you.” He added.
*
Machayla’s heart was beating a mile per minute. How could she have been so stupid? She almost let the fact that Mason beats her slip out and to Jason of all people. When Mason told her to leave, she couldn’t have gotten away from Jason any faster.
Taking a deep breath she plastered a fictitious smile on her face for the ladies behind her and turned away from the counter in the kitchen. “So is anybody hungry? I made lasagna, garlic bread and three different kinds of pies.”
The girls shook their heads yes and proceeded to grab a plate to fill up with food.
She took a cutting knife out the drawer and was about to cut into the lasagna when she heard Sierra gasp extremely loud beside her. Instinctively Machayla’s head quickly turned to face sierra. “What?! What’s wrong? Are you ok?” She asked Sierra with a frantic look.
“I’m fine but why the hell didn’t you tell anybody that you and Mason are getting married?!” Sierra grabbed her left hand and held it out to the rest of the group so they could see the piece of jewelry that had been haunting her in her sleep for the past week.
Machayla felt her heart threatening to thump out of her chest. She didn’t want anybody to know. She tried her best to hide it from everybody. After Mason threatened her to wear the ring or else, she would put it on when he was around, take it off when she was at work or put it on but turn the diamond facing her palm so it would be less obvious to others when she was with Mason but today, she totally forgot to turn it around.
She cursed herself for being so stupid once again. She couldn’t possibly tell them that she was trying to hide her engagement; they would start to ask questions. In their eyes, Mason was the best thing that could ever happen to a woman. He had the money, the looks, the education and the class with a bit of roughness around the edges. They didn’t know his true nature.
She stood staring at the ladies who started to crowd around her while ogling her ring. She didn’t utter a word; she couldn’t even if she wanted to.
“Wow! How many karats is that?” “How long have you been engaged?” “Oh my gosh! You’re so lucky to be getting married to Mason of all people.” “She hit the jackpot!” “Damn look at that rock.” They all threw questions after comments at her but she stood stock still. She didn’t know what to say. She felt bile rising in her throat.
The reality that she would be getting married to Mason and spending the rest of her life with him till death literally do them part finally sunk in deep because now, people knew. They would ask her to start planning the wedding. ‘Oh god why is this happening to me?!’
*
They followed Mason out to the huge backyard and stopped in front of what looked like a big but typical warehouse of some sort with two big metal doors in the entre way. The warehouse was out of place in the yard. It had plush green grass surrounding it with a huge lake behind it.
Mason went ahead to unlock the doors and Jason eyes widen after the lights were switched on. He was impressed. The inside looked nothing like the outside. It was a mechanic’s or a racer’s wet dream in there.
On one side of the wall, the latest tools of every name brand and kind were lined up one after the other, the middle of the room resembled a show room at a car auction. There were brand new racing cars that weren’t even out in the market yet -some foreign, some not- sitting shiny and fresh in a spotlight of their own. Jason counted seven cars in total and that included the Benz that he used to race last night. He was sure that the Audi that he took from them was also part of Mason’s collection.
There were also several different rooms to the side, painted a different color each. The colors clashed with the neon blue lighting of the warehouse but it also fit into it somehow. Jason finally understood why and how Mason was able to recruit all of the best racers into his crew. The guy was really loaded!
Mason walked through the entrance and the rest of the crew followed him in while Jason kept his place beside the doors and shoved his hands into his pockets while studying the cars.
“Like what you see?” Jason hadn’t realized that Carter stayed behind too.
He narrowed his eyes and looked at Carter in his peripheral. “So this is what you sold us out for?”
“Man I didn’t sell yall out and you know that. You guys just weren’t as ambitious. I told you all about this and I practically begged yall to come with me but you guys refused. If anything, you guys sold me out.”
“You’re kidding right?” Jason turned to face Carter with a scowl.
“No I’m not. You guys were struggling and the whole reason why we even got into this whole racing business was because we needed the money but you, Drake, Brandon and Vic were too damn stupid to grab the opportunity when it showed itself. I was just simply smarter.”
“Oh ok so you call getting slapped by another man in public smart? Really Carter what the hell happened to you? The carter that I knew wouldn’t have even thought twice about returning that hit.”
“Unlike you Jason, I know how to pick my battles! The Carter you knew grew the hell up. I suggest you do the same and stop hiding behind your brother. You might wake up one day to find him gone and you alone.” Carter walked up and stopped an inch away from Jason’s face. “Words of advice, nobody in this crew really likes you, apparently you’ve had… encounters with most of them on the street, watch your ass and your mouth.” He bumped Jason’s shoulders with his as he went into the warehouse.
Jason chuckled underneath his breath and smirked. “Well this should be fun.” He turned and walked into the warehouse behind Carter.
“Nice of you to finally join us Jason. Eddie close the doors so we can get down to business.” Mason turned and walked towards one of the many colorful doors in the warehouse. He stopped in front of one that was painted a lime green color. There was a key pad with numbers next to it and he put in a code. A loud buzzer went off indicating that the door was unlocked and he went in followed by the crew.
The room was obviously a storage room. It had four huge wooden crates that were used for shipping overseas sitting in the middle of the room and a large table with a crow bar and various tools sitting on it. Mason walked further into the room and stopped in front of one of the crates. “Carter grab the crow bar.”
Carter took the crow bar and held it up towards Mason but instead of taking it Mason stared at the object and then looked up at Carter with hard eyes. “I don’t remember saying anything about giving it to me dumbass.” He turned and looked at the rest of the group with a wry smile. “Did anyone in here hear me say anything about him giving the freaking crow bar to me?” They all but Jason quickly replied or shook their head no.
Jason chuckled at the event that was playing out in front of him. Mason heard him and quickly made his way over to where Jason was leaning on the wall next to the door. “I really am going to have to teach your punk ass a lesson huh?” Mason snarled at him.
Jason wasn’t fazed by the approximate distance that was between him and Mason’s face. It seemed like somebody was always in his face and he was getting real tired of having his personal space invaded by unwanted idiots. “And what lesson may that be Mason?” He purposely egged him on.
Mason gave him a sly smile and turned away but before Jason can create a coherent thought, he pivoted on his right foot and his fist collided with Jason’s gut at full throttle.
“Oomf!” Jason immediately hunched over in pain. The blow to his stomach caused him to viciously cough. He felt as if his stomach was trying to make its way of his body, it hurt so badly.
Jason looked up from where he was now crouched down on the floor holding onto his stomach and noticed Mason’s sly grin. “That lesson. I hope you learned it well.”
Mason headed back to where the crates were while the pain in Jason’s stomach finally started to reduce. ‘Damn! He’s not going to get away with that.’ Jason thought as he brought himself back up against the wall. ‘If he wants to start teaching lessons then I’ll do the same. Fucking bastard!’
Fully recovered from the surprised blow that he received, Jason looked up to find everyone staring at him with sly and mocking smiles on their faces. He returned their look with a smirk and shoved his balled fist into his pockets again. He refused to show weakness. “Speed it up. I have somewhere to be.”
Mason frowned and shook his head. “I’m either going to really like you or really hate you. It’s your choice actually.”
“Mason I don’t give a rat’s ass if you like me or not. I don’t want to be here and you and all of your little minions, followers, puppets, goons… whatever the hell you want to call them, knows that too. I’m not here on my own free will and if I had a choice, I would be beating the shit out you right now but someone once told me to choose my battles wisely so I will.” Jason gave him a challenging look. He didn’t know what Mason was capable of but he wanted to find out.
Mason glared at him and was about to take another step towards Jason when his phone went off. With a sigh he reached into his pocket and pulled it out. He smiled upon looking at the screen and answered.
“What’s going on? Did the shipments come in?... Alright cool… I’ll tell you when you can drop them off. I’m in the middle of something right now so I’ll call you when I’m free… Yeah ok.”
He hung up and pointed to Carter. “Open the crate.”
Carter walked up to the crate with the crow bar and started working on the sides like a lever. After a while of him struggling and a couple of the guys snickering, he finally got it opened and stepped back. Mason peered into the box and started to pull the contents out.
Jason cocked an eyebrow at the contents that were being pulled out the box. They were just… rugs? “Wait a gotdamn minute!” He exclaimed. Mason stopped the task at hand and gave him an annoyed look as Jason walked up to the box. “You’re telling me that all this crap is for freaking carpets? Wh… what the hell? What are they? They better be the most expensive rugs in the world!”
“Carter I thought you said that he was the silent type?” Mason asked.
Carter shrugged. “He was.”
“Look. You’re really starting to piss me off. I can reassure you that pissing me off is not very wise. Shut the hell up or you’re not going to make it out of this warehouse without a few bruises. If I didn’t need you, you would probably be begging for your life right now!” Mason whole demeanor suddenly became darker than what it usually was.
Jason smiled on the inside. He was glad that he was getting to the Mason in such little time of being in his crew. He gave Mason one slow nod with a small smile as an answer. They were right; he wasn’t usually a big talker.
Mason dug his hand into the crater once more and pulled out a package wrapped in brown paper. He turned to Jason and handed it to him.
Jason gave him a questionable look. “This is what you’re going to be dropping off or picking up. You’ll have somebody working with you and I’m pretty sure you already know which one of the guys it will be. You each have a drop off and pick up spot but since my most important buyers are in Downtown Miami, I’m entrusting you and the dumbass with the crow bar over there to take care of that. Don’t mess up and don’t get caught. Once the police are involved, you are by yourself. It wouldn’t look good if a lawyer like myself was caught messing with drug dealers and underground drag racers now would it?”
‘He’s a freaking lawyer?!’ Jason was surprised by this new information. He didn’t look nor speak like a lawyer but you couldn’t judge a book by its cover. He himself didn’t look like somebody with a business degree that graduated top of his class.
But why would a rich person like himself be involved in drug trafficking to begin with? It’s not like he needed the money. Jason wasn’t sure but Mason acted like somebody with old money. He was too young to be this rich by himself so the only explanation was that his family or parents were loaded and he was also a spoiled brat.
Jason nodded at Mason. He couldn’t believe how low he had become. He had big plans when he was in college to become something so much better but all in all, right now he couldn’t picture himself in a suit and a tie while sitting behind a huge desk anymore. He became the total opposite of what he initially wanted to become.
“Circle around the table.” Mason pulled out a switch blade and sat the pack on the table. In one smooth move he ran the blade into the side of the packet and a white powdery substance spilled out onto the table. He pulled out what Jason guessed was a business card and spread the powder onto the table. He then proceeded to cut lines through the powder and shuffled them into shorter separate lines. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know what this is, right Jason?”
Jason nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. He knew crack cocaine when he saw it. His brother use to sniff the stuff more than anything while their father was on his death bed.
“So you do understand what it is that I need you to do?”
Once again Jason answered him with a nod.
“Oh. So the tough guy is mute now huh?” Jason heard Eddie whisper to another guy next to him. He balled his fingers into a fist, trying to push up his tolerance level but they were tap dancing on his last nerves. Without thinking Jason quickly turned and landed a right hook onto Eddie’s cheeks which sent him hurdling back into another member of the crew and resulted in both of them toppling over. If he couldn’t get Mason back then he surely would get one of his goons back.
In three seconds flat Jason found himself surrounded by nine guys who were all ready to pummel him if he even thought about moving. Jason caught Eddie balling up his fists that were at his side, getting ready to attack any second now.
Eddie took two steps forward and swung at Jason who ducked under his raised arm, grabbed it, twisted and sent another hook flying right onto Eddie’s left eye. He stumbled backwards holding onto his face and growled at Jason. After he regained his balance, he charged at Jason once again but immediately stopped in the middle of his swing when Mason grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and yanked him back.
“Chill the hell out! I don’t have time for these stupid little fights. And anyways Eddie, if you keep this up I don’t think Jason will let you out of here without a broken bone.”
“But he punc-” Eddie stopped speaking the minute Mason glared at him. “Never mind.”
“That’s what I thought.” Mason let his collars go and turned to Jason. “Save the bullshit for later. I need you all back here tomorrow night at seven… And I do mean seven Jason. Next time you decide to come late, don’t expect me to be as nice as I was today. Carter clean the table and put everything back in place and make sure you lock up. Eddie… Ice should be your best friend right now. Let’s go.”
Mason walked out the room and the rest followed leaving Carter to his job.
Jason pulled out his phone to check the time when he noticed that he had a missed call from Drake. He wasn’t about to return Drake’s call in front of those idiots. As they stepped back into the house, he asked Mason where the bathroom was located.
Mason gave him a suspicious look but gave him the directions anyways. “Turn the corner and walk down the hall. It’s the third door to your right.”
Jason followed his directions and slipped into the bathroom after he found it. He made sure to lock the door before he pulled out his phone to call Drake.
“How did it go?” Drake immediately asked when he answered.
“For one Mason snuck a punch in and I returned it to that little bastard Eddie but besides that everything was what I expected it to be… well almost. Did you know that Mason’s a lawyer?”
“....Damn! He has an upper hand. How are we going to get you out of this mess?”
Jason thought about it for a few seconds before answering. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll get myself out of this one.” Jason didn’t need his brother playing captain savior once again. He was a grown ass man who was capable of getting himself out of his own situations.
“Are you sure Jason?”
“I’m positive. Meet me at mom’s in about half an hour.”
“Alright.”
Jason hung up and walked out of the restroom to walk smack dab into somebody. He quickly brought his hands out to the persons shoulder to steady them before they were sent cascading to the ground.
“I’m so sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was go-” he immediately stopped his apology when he realized who he bumped into once again. Shaking his head, he put a hand through his dark locks and chuckled under his breath. “Why do we keep meeting this way Machayla?”